I'll leave suggestions for companion plants to others, but just wanted to add a note for your consideration: Be conservative in placing "background plants" in your limited space for you may find, like the rest of us, hydrangeas are addictive. You'll soon discover you want a bed full of different hydrangeas with "maybe" one or two background plants to the bed. LOL

Ditto Mohicansong!!! I'd trade off dinning-out for another H beauty anytime :-) DH is OK, as long as I get back to the kitchen again! LOL!

Kuriooo I guarantee you'll end up creating a hedge easily! I saw a hedge of Lime Light ... stunning but sorry not tall & "thin"!

Good luck! :-)

kuriooo - can I tell you something? I bought 3 hydrangeas about 3 years ago (Endless Summer). 3 years later, I have 10 hydrangeas in my yard, and 3 in big patio pots!!! LOL! Now you see how addictive they are.... :-)

Anyway, I think that you can either make it a hedge, or make it a specimen, a focal point in the yard. It depends on how you do it, so it won't look odd with just a single plant in the bed, as long as you make it a focal point. It's just an idea... have fun!

I just picked up two small pots of Quickfire. I don't have a whole lot of room either. I have a few hosta, some that might take some sun, and spirea. Or these two could hang together on the sidelines.

Do I keep one and give one to my BF whose birthday is in June, or do I look for another to create a row or garden grouping? How far apart do I plant them, and how far away from the fence?

I would also love to try Limelight, maybe I could just get one of these for the middle? I'm not sure if that would look right.

Actualy I think that row/hedge composed of QF+LL+QF should look very interesting considering the fact that QF already will be in pink stage when LL still be in white one.
I'd say such hedge would need at least 12-15' of space if nothing else will be planted in between and plants would be let grow naturaly, without much pruning.
The only thing I might be planted in between would be the two identical clematises in a solid red to wine color, Niobe perharps. First flush of clematis blooms will be just against hydrangeas foliage, but second will/could/should coincide with pink stage of QF and lime stage of LL.

Wow ego45! You don't know how invaluable your advice is. I end up moving EVERYthing after it's planted. I very much appreciate the help! My mouth was watering just thinking of that juicy combination with the Niobe. The clematis should go on either side of the LL? Does it need support to climb the fence? I was thinking I needed something to break up all that fence (6 foot privacy fence all around the yard)! :-)

I have 12-15' of length no problem, but the bed shape I cut out is only 4' wide in some places, it curves in and out. Let me see if I've got this right. I guess I need to widen that to at least 5 feet, plant the hydrangeas 3' from the fence and at least 4' apart? I hope that bed is not too shady, that's the only concern I have.

My QFs are in little bitty 2 quart pots. I'll edge the bed with lady's mantle until the hydrangeas get bigger, I don't mind moving those later, and I'll plant some annuals to fill in around them.

'The clematis should go on either side of the LL?'
Yes, but is fairly vigorous, so let your small QF/LL to be at least 2-3 footers before you plant clematises.

'... I need to widen that to at least 5 feet...'
At least.
All other dimensions are about right, IMO.

Good luck.
Show us how it work.... in a couple of years :-))

Thanks ego45, I might give that a go. Or, after giving it some more thought, I could just use one as a focal point to start with, after all. No one really answered kuriooo's question, and I really didn't mean to (honest) redirect this thread, I really would like to hear more about using hydrangeas in a mixed border. You know, combined with other shrubs and perennials. Pictures would be lovely.

Hi I am very, very new to gardening...and with four very busy children and three dogs I'm trying to learn as I go along! I thought I would put in my two cents worth regarding companion plants for the hydrangea. I've been trying to create a Cottage Garden Look at our 1898 Victorian and I've fallen in love with three things (the kids tease me so much!) Hydrangeas, Roses, and Peonies and I'm in love with them in combinations throughout my gardens. Last summer was the first summer (my garden is only 3 years old this year)that the Abraham Darby rose and the Sister Therese Hydrangea really played together and I couldn't believe how beautiful they ended up looking together and since then I've been combining the hydrangeas with more roses and peonies! I'll have my 15 year old son show me how to post a picture this summer when they come into bloom, if anyone is interested!

Oh yes, very interested. :-) Thanks!

wow, hydrangea, roses and peonies! I have seen some beautiful climbing roses in CA that I loved, but they need full sun as do the peonies. It sounds like hydrangeas will tolerate full sun but prefer some shade which roses don't like.

How did you come to satisfy the requirements of all three types of plants in the same area?

I bought several limelights for a hedge (after preliminary research) and only researched thoroughly after I purchased them- they were so healthy. I believe they will be too large for the narrow space they were intended and it seems pruning to keep small may not be a great solution. I love hydrangeas (especially white) for their summer and fall interest. Can anyone suggest the best choice for a smaller/narrower/sunny location? Please say its possible! Many thanks!

I'm so sorry to take so long to reply...it's been so very busy around here. But to answer your question about the hydrangea, rose, peony combo. I have found with the old english roses (David Austin) in particular...do just great in 4-6 hours of sun, so what I do is order larger shrubs 4-5ft.(Abraham Darby, Graham Thomas, Jude the Obscure) are some of my favorite and they grow to shade the hydrangea, and I also find that my peony do great with either morning or afternoon sun (4-5) hours also. So...the roses and peony "shade" the hydrangea and I can't believe it works but it does. The Sister Therese are the hydrangea that I have done this with so far...they still do require the goodly amount of water but so far it seems to work. I can't wait to show you the pictures...you can't believe how pretty it is, and how easy it ends up being. In one bed, I've also tucked Bearded Iris in that I found growing on the property and this year will be the first that it really is coming into its own, I think, after being transplanted last year. I got one bloom last year, and it looked great with the combination!(it is purple) So far I've only tried this combination with the white Sister Therese, but I'm sure you all could come up with other beautiful, hydrangea, peony, rose combinations. Please let me know if you do! :)

Friend of mine have by the pool most striking summer combo I've ever seen: 3x Knockout roses + 4x ES.
He is not a gardener and just plonk plants in a ground wherever he think he need color without any respect to the written rules or cultural requrements.
When he show me his 'work' four years ago I was very sceptical about how this will work and told him to be ready to relocate either roses or ES in a year.
He never pruned either of the plants for 4 years...
You should of see this gorgeous mess now!
Truly mess, but extremely gorgeous nevertheless.